Frances Farquharson’s life was one of colour, adventure and constant activity, and there is no other community that can testify to this as strongly as Braemar. Even today, years after The British Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar journalist’s death in 1991, and a month after this year’s Braemar Gathering – where she would don her tartan creations – echoes of her love of colour, Scottish textiles and people remain. The wife of Alwyne Farquharson, the Laird of Invercauld, was known for her “colourful, dynamic and flamboyant” character.
Always on the go even at home, Frances would often persuade people visiting Invercauld to swap their cup of tea for helping her to rearrange the furniture. Her ideas were often vibrant, with the fashionista famously favouring pink and yellow – colours which still feature inside Braemar Castle and murals in Braemar. Brushing elbows with the Royal family on their Deeside visits, Frances was normally pictured at the wearing tartan in a way that made people look twice.
Something author Caroline Young did on seeing one of her fabulous tartan outfits on display at the National Museum of Scotland in 2017. Early life involved travel, Russian royalty and tragedy Amazed by the outfit, Caroline, who has written several books on fashion history, said Frances intrigued her. So much so, that she set about writing the first biography on the fascinating journalist and woman of fashion.
“She just stuck in my mind,” she said. “The way she created h.